Week 1
Individual Tax Return Position Paper
Suppose you have a concern about taking a particular position on a tax return.
Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper that discusses the following:
What are the primary sources of tax law?
What are the secondary sources of tax law?
What is substantial authority?
What is the role of the courts and the Internal Revenue Service in interpreting and applying the
sources of tax law?

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
Discussion Questions
DQ 1 What business entities are available for a new business? What are the tax and nontax advantages
of each form? Select two business types and provide an example of when that selection is most
appropriate from a tax perspective and from a nontax perspective.

DQ 2 Once a business has elected its tax status using check-the-box regulations, what options are
available if it needs to change its tax status? What should a business consider before electing to change
its tax status?
DQ 3 Do the following decisions have the same precedential value: (1) Tax Court regular decisions, (2)
Tax Court memo decisions (3) decisions under the small cases procedure of the Tax Court? Why?

Week 2

Individual Week Two Problem Set
Complete the problems found in Ch. 2 of Prentice Hall’s Federal Taxation 2010: Corporations.

C:2-3 Black LLC
C:2-54 Bear Corporation

C:2-55 Wildcat Corporation
C:2-56 Tax Strategy for Wildcat Corporation
Read the scenario and respond to the questions.
Support your answers with calculations, as needed.
Show your work.

Submit your completed assignment as a Microsoft ® Excel®, a Microsoft® Word, or a PDF document.
Learning Team Week Two Discussion Question

What are the requirements for the following deductions: U.S. production activity deduction, dividend
received deduction, and net operating loss? Discuss any recent legislative changes.

Discussion Questions
DQ 1 What are the alternative tax years available to a corporation? What factors should be considered
in electing the tax year?
DQ 2 What is the legislative intent behind the corporate alternative minimum tax (AMT)? Define tax
reference items, AMT adjustment, and minimum tax credit

Submit your completed assignment as a Microsoft ® Excel®, a Microsoft® Word, or a PDF document.

Discussion Questions
DQ 1 How does a corporation compute earnings and profits (E&P)? What income is deferred to a later
year when computing taxable income but is included in E&P in the current year? What deductions are
allowed for taxable income purposes but denied for E&P?
DQ 2 The corporation owns a building with a $160,000 adjusted basis and $120,000 fair market value.
The company has earnings and profits of $200,000. Is it more advantageous for the company to sell the
property and distribute the sales proceeds to its shareholders or distribute the property to its
shareholders and let them sell the property? Why? If you were a shareholder, what would be most
advantageous to you?
DQ 3 What is a stock redemption? What are some reasons for redeeming stock? Why are some
redemption treated as sales and others as dividends?

Submit your completed assignment as a Microsoft ® Excel®, a Microsoft® Word, or a PDF document.
Learning Team Week Four Discussion Question
Sue and Bill plan to open an accounting firm and expect to work full time in the firm. They expect to
incur a small loss during their first year of operation and expect to be profitable after the first year.
What are the tax law requirements for structuring the business as a partnership or an S corporation?
Which would you recommend and why?

Discussion Questions
DQ 1 Bob and Dave plan to start a business. Bob will contribute land and Dave will contribute services.
Would you recommend this business be formed as a partnership or as an S corporation? Why?
DQ 2 What are separately stated items on a K-1? Why is it necessary to separate these items from
ordinary income?

Submit your completed assignment as a Microsoft ® Excel®, a Microsoft® Word, or a PDF document.
Discussion Questions
DQ 1 What is an inadvertent termination of an S election? How does an S corporation and its
shareholders rectify an inadvertent termination? What could happen if a company fails to rectify the
termination?
DQ 2 A C corporation has incurred substantial losses and the owners have decided to close the business.
What considerations should the owners make in this termination? Should they consider making an S
election and then later, terminating the S corporation? If you were their tax advisor, what would you
recommend?